Written Answers

Tuesday 6 June 2000

Scottish Executive

Fisheries

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the relationship between the trading of fish quotas and the legal concept of ownership and whether there are any legal implications that may arise from quota trading.

Mr John Home Robertson: We are in the process of consulting the fishing industry to ascertain their views on the development of trade in fish quotas and the need for guidance on legal entitlement to quotas and licences under present legislation.

  The first meeting of a working group established to consider these issues was held on 11 April. I have arranged for a full copy of the papers tabled for discussion by the group to be made available to the Parliament’s Information Centre. As I have already indicated in my reply to Mr Lochhead’s questions on this issue (S1W-5315 and S1W-5316), I shall consider the working group’s findings and recommendations and report to the Rural Affairs Committee in due course.

Fisheries

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6410 by Mr John Home Robertson on 11 May 2000, what amounts of fixed quota units for the North Sea and west of Scotland fisheries which are administered by its Rural Affairs Department Fisheries Division have been, for the past two years (a) attached to fishing vessels’ licences, (b) attached to producers’ organisations’ "dummy vessels" and (c) held on producers’ organisations’ "dummy vessels" on behalf of an individual or company.

Mr John Home Robertson: The number of North Sea and West of Scotland fixed quota units in groups (producer organisations, the Lunar group, and Scottish-based non-sector vessels, but excluding the under 10 metre group), administered by the Rural Affairs department was as follows:

  

 

At 
1 January 



 

2000 


1999 




Attached 
to "dummy vessels" (millions) 


0.450 


0.445 




Attached 
to licences (millions) 


4.603 


4.174 




  Since three new quota stocks were introduced this year, the figures for the two years are not directly comparable.

  Information on ownership of units attached to dummy vessels is held by producer organisations and is not available centrally.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £79 million being invested by Scottish Homes in its Glasgow and North Clyde division in 2000-01 is being spent (a) in Clydebank and (b) within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In 2000-01 Scottish Homes’ Glasgow and North Clyde Region plans to spend £4.43 million in Clydebank, all of which will be spent in the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 1,300 Scottish Homes properties being newly built for social rent in its Glasgow and North Clyde Division will be located in (a) in Clydebank and (b) within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Scottish Homes plans to approve funding for 1,300 new and improved homes for social rent in Glasgow and North Clyde Region during 2000-01. Of this total, the current plans envisage that one hundred and seventy will be located in Clydebank, all within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £51 million private sector funding for 2000-01 attracted by Scottish Homes to its Glasgow and North Clyde Division will be spent (a) in Clydebank and (b) within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Of the £51 million of private sector funding which Scottish Homes’ Glasgow and North Clyde Region hopes will be committed to projects approved during 2000-01, approximately £4.1 million should be invested in Clydebank, all within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Justice

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to prevent those accused of sex offences personally cross-examining the victim in court.

Angus MacKay: Scottish Ministers have instructed that proposals are developed to prevent an accused person charged with a sex offence from cross-examining a victim personally and to strengthen provisions restricting cross-examination on sexual history. Ministers will immediately begin the process of taking advice on how this can be done while ensuring that the accused receives a fair trial.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will answer my letter dated 3 February 2000 to the Deputy Minister for Community Care on the subject of carers and what the reason was for the delay.

Iain Gray: I have replied today, and apologise for the delay in doing so. As a result of the raised profile we have given to carers’ issues and the number of initiatives underway, a backlog of correspondence built up. This has now been cleared.

Poverty

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive,  further to the answer to question S1W-2555 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 26 November 1999, whether it will indicate the proportion of (a) children, (b) working age people and (c) older people who are living in households with (i) less than 50%, and 60% and 70% of median GB income and (ii) less than 50%, and 60% of mean GB income, both before and after deduction of housing costs, living in West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee local authority areas.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The information requested cannot be provided at sub-Scotland level. The answer to question S1W-2555 was drawn from the Households Below Average Income dataset using the Family Resources Survey which does not have sufficient sample size to produce the required level of detail at Scottish local authority level.

  The Scottish Household Survey will provide information on household income by local authority area after the first full sweep of the survey (i.e. after two years) – the results of which are not likely to be made available until summer 2001.

  Work is also underway to investigate new methodologies and to consider boosting existing samples to give better coverage for Scotland to try to overcome this problem.